It seems like the latest technology to get the marketing world hot and bothered is blockchain. Previously relegated to discussions of bitcoin, using the blockchain — essentially a decentralized, ultra-secure Excel sheet — for solving many of digital advertising’s woes is en vogue. Here’s everything blockchain is purportedly hoping to do:

Reward and pay creators for making content.

Make ad buys by pooling data securely on the blockchain.

Ensure ads are seen and record who has seen them by tagging them.

Incentivize people using cryptocurrencies to police the internet and determine which publishers are fake and which are real.

And some big names are involved. The IAB is reportedly developing a working group to figure out if blockchain could in fact solve ad fraud, while Comcast has teamed up with a who’s who of brands, including Disney, to help them pool their data together to make better TV ad buyers. In China, a media platform developed on the blockchain has produced 7,000 “intelligent screens” in multiple cities that will target and personalize ads to individuals.

Reality check: Of course, the excitement about blockchain is far removed from the reality: Blockchain remains narrowly adopted and mostly theoretical. Most of the companies doing the above are still in the “proof of concept” (read: public relations) stage — most won’t have anything to show until at least six months to a year from now. Still, it’s nice to have something new to get pumped about beyond header bidding. — Shareen Pathak